BATON ROUGE – With the loss of elite quarterback commitment Feleipe Franks to Florida, LSU has gone to the hurry-up, no-huddle recruiting offense to find another quarterback in time for national signing day on February 3.

Franks, the No. 2 pro style quarterback in the nation according to Rivals.com at 6-foot-6 and 203 pounds out of Wakulla High in Crawfordville, Florida, had been committed to LSU since June of 2014. Franks being in LSU’s fold was one reason why the Tigers lost No. 1 dual threat quarterback Shea Patterson out of Calvary Baptist in Shreveport and later IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, to Ole Miss.

Franks attended LSU games early this season, then began shifting to his state school – the Florida Gators – and attended games at The Swamp.

Through early and mid-November — weeks before LSU athletic director Joe Alleva and LSU Board of Supervisors members began a move to fire head coach Les Miles — Franks told LSU coaches he was considering decommitting from the Tigers. On Monday, Nov. 23 — two days after LSU lost its first game of the season at Alabama to fall to 7-1 — Franks told LSU he was decommitted. He then committed to Florida on Nov. 29 — one day after Miles saved his job with a 19-7 victory over Texas A&M to finish the regular season at 8-3. Franks signed with Florida last week.

LSU offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Cam Cameron had been the lead recruiter for Franks. And it did not help LSU’s efforts for Franks when Alleva did not allow Miles to extend Cameron’s contract, a three-year deal that expires in March. Miles has still been unable to extend Cameron’s contract.

Since the end of the regular season, Miles and Cameron have been trying to find another quarterback to sign for the class of 2016. Last Wednesday, Cameron spoke to Anthony Russo, a nationally unranked pro style quarterback out of Archbishop Wood High in Warminster, Pennsylvania, according to Shea Dixon of 247 Sports. Russo is committed to Rutgers but has not been recruited by a lot of big time programs. His other offers are from Bucknell, Buffalo, Connecticutt, Monmouth, Towson and Temple.

LSU coaches are also recruiting Dwayne Haskins, the No. 3 pro style quarterback in the nation and No. 83 overall prospect in the country, according to Rivals.com. Haskins (6-2, 188) is out of Bullis High in Potomac, Maryland. He has been committed to Maryland since May 15. He visited Ohio State on Dec. 11 and Florida on Nov. 27. LSU is also considering other high school quarterbacks. As of yet, Miles is not considering a transfer.

“I’m not really at this point in time looking for that,” Miles said Friday after practice. “And if I was, frankly, I wouldn’t tell you.”

Miles has four quarterbacks on scholarship now — sophomore starter Brandon Harris, junior Anthony Jennings, freshman Justin McMillan and Purdue transfer Danny Etling, who will be a junior next season.

“Yeah, I think we can,” Miles said when asked if he thinks he and his staff can sign an elite quarterback prospect in the class of 2016. “I don’t want to necessarily go into that in depth, but I think there’s some quality players there, you bet.”

GRADUATION DAY: Among the LSU students graduating Friday were five football players — defensive tackle Quentin Thomas of Breaux Bridge, linebacker Lamar Louis of Breaux Bridge, wide receiver John Diarse of Monroe, defensive back Corey Thompson and punter Jamie Keehn.

“Quentin is a proud graduate and the first one in his family,” Miles said.